Daily Digest

Shelby Oaks Red Roof Inn Sells for $1.6 Million

The Red Roof Inn at 6055 Shelby Oaks Drive has traded hands for the second time in a year and for the same sales price of $1.6 million.

Shree Shiv LLC of West Memphis bought the 108-room hotel Sept. 19 from FMW RRI NC LLC, which had acquired the property in August 2011 as part of a joint venture.

The site was one of 143 Red Roof Inns – totaling about 17,000 rooms – sold last year to affiliates of Five Mile Capital Partner and Westmont Hospitality Group in a joint venture, according to an Aug. 31, 2011, statement from Red Roof Inns Inc. The joint venture committed more than $70 million for renovating and upgrading the portfolio.

Built in 1980, the two-story, 17,472-square-foot hotel sits on 2.2 acres on the south side of Shelby Oaks Drive east of Sycamore View Road. The south line of the property backs up to Interstate 40.

Its 2012 appraisal is $2 million, according to the Shelby County Assessor of Property, which lists the hotel’s address as 6065 Shelby Oaks Drive.

Shree Shiv filed two loans through Trust Co. Bank in conjunction with the acquisition, one for $1.3 million and one for $300,000.

Ashokkumar Dharsandia signed the trust deeds as chief manager of Shree Shiv. The transaction also included two assignments of leases and rents to the lender, one for each loan.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Haslam Appoints Three to Court Panel on Hooker Case

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Robert Carter Jr. and attorney Monica Wharton of Memphis are among two of the three new members of a Special Tennessee Supreme Court appointed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.

The special panel will hear any appeal of a lawsuit filed by attorney and former Democratic nominee for governor John Jay Hooker to challenge the state’s appointment method for judges on the state Court of Criminal Appeals. Hooker claims the appointments and retention elections for the positions violate the Tennessee Constitution.

All five sitting Supreme Court justices have recused themselves from hearing any appeal that might make it to the high court.

In July, Haslam appointed five citizens to the panel that would exist only to hear the appeal of the Hooker case.

But in August, three of Haslam’s original five – retired Shelby County Circuit Court Judge George Brown, retired Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice William M. Barker of Chattanooga and retired Nashville Federal Court Chief Judge Robert L. Echols – also recused themselves.

Carter and Wharton as well as a third new appointee, James R. Dedrick, the former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, join Nashville attorney Andree Sophia Blumstein and Knoxville attorney W. Morris Kizer on the panel.

Wharton is chief legal counsel for the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. Carter was elected a Criminal Court judge in August 2010.

– Bill Dries

Unemployment Rates Rise in Half of US States

Unemployment rates rose in more than half of U.S. states last month, the latest evidence that hiring remains tepid across the country.

The Labor Department said Friday that rates increased in 26 states, including Tennessee. They fell in 12 states and were unchanged in the other 12.

Unemployment also rose in seven of the 11 key swing states in this year’s presidential election.

Nationwide, employers added only 96,000 jobs in August. That’s below July’s gain of 141,000 and the average of 226,000 jobs a month added in the January-March quarter.

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent last month from 8.3 percent in July. But that was only because many people gave up looking for work. The government only counts people as unemployed if they are actively searching for jobs.

Tennessee’s unemployment rate for August increased to 8.5 percent, up from the July revised rate of 8.4 percent.

In August, unemployment increased in several competitive states in this year’s presidential race.

The rate in Michigan rose to 9.4 percent from 9 percent. The rate ticked up a tenth of a point to 12.1 percent in Nevada, which has the highest unemployment in the nation. GOP nominee Mitt Romney campaigned in Nevada on Friday.

Unemployment rates also rose in five other battleground states: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa.

Still, unemployment was flat in three closely contested states that are rich in electoral votes: Florida, Virginia and Ohio.

The rate in Florida held steady at 8.8 percent. Florida also recorded the second-highest job gain in the nation last month, adding 23,200 jobs.

– The Associated Press

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Installed in Garages

The Downtown Memphis Commission, through its Downtown Parking Authority, is now offering 12 electric vehicle charging stations for public use in six parking garages.

The equipment and installation costs were funded by San Francisco-based ECOtality, a company that develops environmentally friendly energy systems, and its partner company Blink Network. The Blink Network offers its members discounted access to electric vehicle charging stations throughout the country.

Costs for using electric charging stations in Downtown Memphis are $2 per hour for non-Blink members, and $1 to $1.50 per hour for Blink members. Users are required to pay appropriate garage parking costs.

Charging stations are located on the first or second levels in the following Downtown Parking Authority garages: Justice Center Garage at 245 Washington Ave.; Front Street Garage at 85 N. Front St., between Adams and Jefferson avenues; Riverfront Garage at Front Street at Monroe Avenue; Peabody Place Office Tower Garage at 110 Peabody Place Avenue between Main and Second streets; Gayoso Parking Garage at Gayoso Avenue between Main and Second streets; and 250 Peabody Place Garage at 250 Peabody Place between Third and Fourth streets.

– Sarah Baker

Federal Aviation Administration Credit Union Gets New CEO

R. Todd Vanderpool is the new CEO of the Federal Aviation Administration Credit Union.

Vanderpool, previously CEO and president with BankTennessee, replaces Dawn Graeter, who retired in 2011 as CEO of FAA Federal Credit Union, and Tom Sammons, who served as interim CEO.

Vanderpool has more than three decades of financial services experience and had been at BankTennessee since 2001. During his time with BankTennessee, he also worked as chief credit officer, a member of the board of directors, the asset liability committee and the executive committee.

– Andy Meek

Trulia: Underwriters Fully Exercise Option

Real estate website operator Trulia, which climbed a hefty 41 percent in its public debut, says that the underwriters of its initial public stock offering have fully exercised their option to buy more shares at the IPO price.

The San Francisco company said Friday, Sept. 21, that the underwriters had an option to buy up to an additional 900,000 shares at the offering price of $17 per share to cover any excess demand.

In their first day of trading on Thursday, Trulia shares rose $7 to close at $24 per share, marking the 10th biggest gain in a trading debut this year.

Trulia Inc. says that since the underwriters’ option was fully exercised, the IPO’s size is 6.9 million shares. This includes 5.9 million shares to be sold by the company and 1 million shares to be sold by certain stockholders who chose to sell.

Trulia operates the website Trulia.com and mobile apps. It allows people to research home listings and neighborhoods, while helping real estate agents market their listings. Its database includes 4.5 million homes for sale and rent.

The company trades under the “TRLA” ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange.